Users of VoIP network services will sometimes need to enter touchtone (DTMF) signals while a call is in progress to initiate an event with the network operator. For instance, a user engaged in a conference call conversation may want to bridge another user onto the call and will enter touchtone signals, typically a specific sequence of touchtone such as “**9”, to let the network service operator know to set up and bridge another conference call leg onto the call in progress. Since DTMF signals are embedded and carried the same way as voice transmission in VoIP, certain embedded DTMF signals that can be used to initiate and request network services require special processing by the VoIP network to recognize these special DTMF signals.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for enabling DTMF signal processing in the core VoIP network.